1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a battery connecting portion-protecting cover which is used for a battery terminal or a fuse unit, connected to a battery post mounted on a vehicle, for the purpose of preventing the short-circuiting, developing upon contact with an external object, and the corrosion due to the intrusion of waterdrops.
2. Related Art
An on-vehicle battery includes a pair of battery posts made of a lead alloy. A battery terminal for supplying electric power from the battery to an auxiliary equipment or the like, a fuse unit, or others is connected to the battery post. The battery terminal or the fuse unit is protected by a protecting cover in an insulated manner for the purpose of preventing the short-circuiting, developing upon contact with an external object, and the corrosion due to the intrusion of waterdrops.
In view of the need for attachment/detachment of the battery terminal during the assembly of the vehicle and the need for exchange and visual inspection of fuses, the protecting cover is separate from the battery terminal and the fuse unit, and can be opened and closed, and is detachably mounted on the battery terminal or the fuse unit by suitable engagement means.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show one conventional protecting cover disclosed in JP-A-2000-340214. This illustrated protecting cover 101 is used for a battery terminal 102 (FIG. 10), and is mounted on the battery terminal in such a manner that this protecting cover can be pivotally opened and closed about a hinge portion 107.
The battery terminal 102, shown in FIG. 10, is made of electrically-conductive metal, and includes a wire connection portion 102a for being press-fastened to that portion of a conductor 104, exposed by removing a sheath of a wire 103 at a distal end portion thereof, and a clamp portion 102b for connection to a battery post (not shown). This clamp portion 102b includes a fastening ring 105 of a generally short cylindrical shape for being fastened to the battery post. A pair of extension piece portions 105a project forwardly from the fastening ring 105, and a fastening bolt 106 is mounted on distal ends of these extension piece portions. The fastening ring 105 can be decreased in diameter by tightening the fastening bolt 106, and by doing so, the battery terminal 102 can be fastened to the battery post.
As shown in FIG. 8, the protecting cover 10 is molded entirely of a synthetic resin, and has an integral construction, and this protecting cover includes a cover body 101a for holding the wire connecting portion 102a and the fastening ring 105 in a generally embracing manner, and a cover piece portion 101b which is connected to the cover body 101a through the hinge portion 107 so as to cover the upper side and opposite sides of the clamp portion 102b. 
The cover body 110a has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and has an open bottom and open opposite ends, and the battery terminal 102 and part of the distal end portion of the wire 103 can be fitted into this cover body through the bottom opening thereof. The front end portion of the cover body 101a is slightly increased in width to provide an annular holding portion 108 for receiving the fastening ring 105 of the battery terminal 102. An inner surface of the annular holding portion 108 is so formed as to be disposed in substantially intimate contact with the outer peripheral surface of the fastening ring 105. The width of a rear portion of the cover body 101a, extending rearwardly from the annular holding portion 108, is generally equal to the width of the wire connection portion 102a. 
The cover piece portion 101b is connected to the cover body 101a through the hinge portion 107 so as to be opened and closed relative to the cover body 101a. A step 109 is formed on an upper surface of the cover body 101a such that a rear portion of this upper surface is higher than a front portion thereof. The hinge 107 is provided at that portion of the higher rear portion of this upper surface, disposed near to the step 109, and extends in the direction of the width of the cover body.
In the above construction, for opening the cover piece portion 101b, an operating piece portion 112, formed integrally at the front end of the cover piece portion 101b, is lifted. For closing the cover piece portion 101b, the cover piece portion 101b is pressed down, so that claws 110a of retaining arms 110, formed within the cover piece portion 101b, are brought into engagement respectively with retaining reception portions 11 formed in the cover body portion 101a. 
However, the above conventional protecting cover has the following problems which should be solved.
Although the closed condition of the openable/closable cover piece portion 101b is maintained by the lock means comprising the retaining arms 110 and the retaining reception portions 111, there is encountered a problem that the open condition of the cover piece portion 101b can not be maintained since any lock means for this purpose is not provided at the cover piece portion 101b and the cover body portion 101a. 
Namely, when the battery terminal 102 (to be connected to the battery post) or various connection terminals (to be connected to the battery post through a fuse unit) are to be attached and detached, and when fuses, provided within the fuse unit, are to be exchanged with new ones, these operations need to be carried out while holding the cover piece portion 101b in the open condition. However, the cover piece portion 101b to be opened is connected to the cover body 101a through the elastic hinge portion 107, and this cover piece portion is opened while elastically deforming the hinge portion 107 of an arcuate cross-section in a direction of reverse warping of this hinge portion. Therefore, the cover piece portion 101b tends to be elastically returned into its closed condition, and therefore the operator must effect the operation while holding the cover piece portion 101b with one hand. In this case, the operator must tighten and loosen the fastening bolt 106 with the other (empty) hand, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the efficiency of the attaching/detaching operation and other operations is low
With the above problems in view, it is an object of this invention to provide a battery connecting portion-protecting cover in which the protecting cover can be held in an open condition so as to enhance the efficiency of an operation, such as an operation for attaching and detaching a battery terminal, various connection terminals or others, and a fuse-exchanging operation, and a hinge portion exhibits high durability against repeated bending.
The above object has been achieved by a battery connecting portion-protecting cover of the invention comprising a cover body portion for covering a battery terminal, connected directly to a battery post, or a fuse unit, and a cover opening/closing portion which is connected to the cover body portion through a hinge portion, and can be pivotally opened and closed about the hinge portion; characterized in that an insertion piece portion is formed on that portion of the cover opening/closing portion disposed near to the hinge portion, and has a retaining portion formed at a distal end thereof; and the cover body portion has an insertion hole portion into which the insertion piece portion can be fittingly inserted.
In this construction, the insertion piece portion for locking purposes is formed on the cover opening/closing portion, and the insertion hole portion for the insertion piece portion is formed in the cover body portion. When the cover opening/closing portion is lifted, and is pivotally moved through about 90 degrees about the hinge portion, the insertion piece portion of the cover opening/closing portion is inserted into the insertion hole portion in the cover body portion, and at a predetermined opening angle of the cover opening/closing portion, the retaining portion on the cover opening/closing portion is retained by the insertion hole portion, so that the cover opening/closing portion is held in an open condition. Namely, when the cover opening/closing portion is pivotally moved in the opening direction, the insertion piece portion is gradually inserted deep into the insertion hole portion, and the cover opening/closing portion is brought into abutting engagement with the cover body portion, so that the pivotal movement of the cover opening/closing portion is stopped. Then, when leaving hold of the cover opening/closing portion, the cover opening/closing portion is slightly restored, so that the retaining portion is retained by the insertion hole portion, thereby holding the opening/closing portion in the open condition. For closing the cover opening/closing portion, the retaining of the insertion piece portion by the insertion hole portion is canceled, and the cover opening/closing portion is pivotally moved in the closing direction, and this cover opening/closing portion is fixed to the fuse unit by lock means.
In the battery connecting portion-protecting cover, the cover opening/closing portion and the cover body portion include slanting walls, respectively, which are opposed to each other, with the hinge portion disposed therebetween, and the insertion piece portion is formed on the slanting wall of the cover opening/closing portion, and the insertion hole portion is formed in the slanting wall of the cover body portion.
In this construction, the insertion piece portion is formed on the slanting wall of the cover opening/closing portion, and the insertion hole portion is formed in the slanting wall of the cover body portion, and therefore the insertion piece portion can be provided without projecting outwardly from the cover opening/closing portion, and the cover opening/closing portion is prevented from interfering with those parts around the battery post, and besides can be held in the open condition. The slanting walls, opposed to each other, with the hinge portion disposed therebetween, are abutted against each other, so that the pivotal movement of the cover opening/closing portion in the opening direction is stopped, and therefore the angle of opening of the cover opening/closing portion can be limited by the slating angle of the slanting walls.
In the battery connecting portion-protecting cover, the pair of insertion piece portions are provided near to opposite end portions of the hinge portion, respectively.
In this construction, the pair of insertion piece portions are provided, and therefore the cover opening/closing portion, while supported at two points, is held in the open condition, and therefore when an accidental external force acts on the cover opening/closing portion, the external force, acting on each insertion piece portion, is reduced, and the insertion piece portions are prevented from being deformed or bent, and hence the retained condition will not be canceled.
In the battery connecting portion-protecting cover, the retaining portions of the pair of insertion piece portions project inwardly toward each other or outwardly away from each other.
In this construction, the retaining portions of the pair of insertion piece portions project inwardly toward each other or outwardly away from each other, and therefore lateral forces, acting respectively on inner surfaces of the insertion hole portions when the pair of insertion piece portions are inserted respectively into the insertion hole portions, with the retaining portions held in contact respectively with these inner surfaces, are directed in the same direction, so that these lateral forces cancel each other, and a shearing force is prevented from acting on the opposite end portions of the hinge portion.
In the battery connecting portion-protecting cover, the insertion piece portion is a rib-like, elastically-deformable projected wall.
In this construction, the projected wall is elastically deformable, and therefore even if the projected wall and the insertion hole portion are out of registry with each other because of a molding error, deformation and so on of the cover opening/closing portion and cover body portion, such misregistration is allowed, and the protected wall can be smoothly inserted into the insertion hole portion. And besides, the protected wall has a rib-like shape, and therefore has the increased rigidity, and is prevented from elastic deformation upon application of an external force.